New Perspective
by CheshireEffect
Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head. MxM AU
1. Welcome To Humbodlt I Guess

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (although how fucking HOT would that be?!) or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Welcome to Humboldt I Guess**

* * *

**Matt groaned as someone (Light) **knocked on his door for the third time that morning. He bit out a curse and tossed his blankets to the side as he clambered out of the bed and onto the floor with a muffled thud.

"I'm up!" He shouted before Light could continue knocking, wincing as one of his X-Box controllers dug into his spine. The redhead looked at his Mario themed alarm clock, another curse tumbling from his lips as it glared the time at him. He had fifteen minutes before Light and Sayu left for school, which would have been plenty of time for him if he hadn't have shirked his Trig homework in favor of a Bioshock marathon. Running a hand through bed-ruffled hair he unfolded himself from the floor and made his way to his dresser for clean outfit to wear.

He was met with a pitiful choice of old and faded band and gaming shirts, not a stripe in sight. (He really needed to remember to put his clothes in the hamper.) Finally deciding on a pair of blue jeans and an Assassin's Creed long-sleeve, he pulled on the clothes along with a pair of socks and he toed on his shoes. Running into the bathroom down the hall to brush his teeth and wash his face, he barely remembered to grab his bag from behind his bedroom door before he was taking the stairs two at a a time.

Light looked him over with pursed lips when he arrived at the dining table and rolled his eyes, which was Light-speak for 'I'm offended by your horrible fashion sense Matt'. Matt snorted in response (Matt-nese for 'I really don't give a fuck about your fashion sensibilities, Light') and a smile curved the brunette's lips. It was the kind of silent communication that they'd developed over the years.

"Find any good deals at Ambercrombie and Fiche?" Matt asked as Sachiko sat breakfast on the table in front of him.

"No, but I heard Hot Topic is having a clearance sale on graphic tees this morning." Light replied with a chuckle as his mother lightly smacked Matt on the head with a wooden spoon.

"Behave, both of you." She admonished. Sayu snickered from her seat between the two boys.

"He started it!" Matt protested weakly and Sachiko leveled the spoon at both her boys with a warning look.

"I don't want to hear it. Matt, you need to eat before it's time to leave." She turned to Light. "I'll be taking Sayu to school since your father needs you to drop off a few folders at the station for him."

Matt ate quickly after that and stacked the dishes in the sink. He grabbed an apple for later as well and accepted the kiss that Sachiko placed on his forehead. She had to stand on the tip of her toes now after Matt's growth spurt but he made up for it by letting her ruffle his hair. It was something that her other son never allowed, his obsession with his own hair amusing her to no end.

"Get to school. And no more sleeping in Mr. Lester's class." She called as he made his way to the door where Light was waiting, his father's folders in hand.

Matt grinned but said nothing. Mr. Lester's Computer Basics class was something he could do (and had been doing) in his sleep, much to the teacher's annoyance. It honestly wasn't Matt's fault that he'd learned all of the classes curriculum before fourth grade though.

…

The drive to the station and then the school was uneventful, Light shooting Matt disapproving looks as the redhead belted out the lyrics to _Re: Your Brains._ Pulling into the parking lot, Matt cut the engine and reached out the open window to open the door. Light did the same as Matt rummaged in the back seat for his bag. He tossed it onto his shoulder and slammed the door shut, pressing his hip against it to ensure that the door didn't pop open again.

"You really need to get your car fixed." Light said with a disdained sniff. Matt kicked one of Chevelle's tires affectionately and leveled a glare at his adoptive brother.

"There's nothing wrong with my car, Raito." He said and Light scowled at the use of his Japanese name. His reply was cut off, however, by a roar as a motorcycle careened into the parking lot. A group of girls yelled curses and insults after the biker as he parked in the space opposite of Matt, but they shut up when the bike's owner pulled off his helmet to reveal shoulder length blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Holy shit." Matt gasped and blue eyes focused on him.

"Don't stare unless your hands plan on following your eyes. Ginger" The blonde nearly purred. "I don't need you fucking me with your eyes."

When Matt only gulped and averted his gaze to the motorcycle its owner scoffed.

"Great, a closet case." He heard the blonde mutter. "Figures that this hick town would be full of Narnians."

Matt snorted out a laugh at that and the blonde gave him an appraising look. Then he sauntered away into the school building, tight leather leaving little (very little) to the imagination.

* * *

**Mello made his way through** the halls in search of his locker, boots stomping and announcing his presence as he weaved his way through the congested stream of students. For such a small town with a body count the equivalent of pocket lint there sure as hell were a lot of high-schoolers.

It took a sizable amount of elbowing but he finally spotted the locker labeled B005. He picked the crappy lock instead of taking the time to bother with the combination numbers that the old hag in the office had given him. The door opened with a pitiful shriek and he tossed in his books and helmet.

Glancing over, he spotted the redhead from earlier above the sea of students (fucking giant) and smirked when green eyes met his own. The bell rang, the other boy's eyes shifting away from his own, and he slammed the locker door shut.

He arrived to AP Literature with time to spare and made his way to the back of the room. The redhead skidded into the room just as the late bell rang and Mello distractedly sat in the first available seat as he watched the teacher scold Matt for barely arriving on time. It must have been a frequent argument between them if the broad's long-suffering expression was anything to go by. Then he took in the two blonde girls sitting to each side of him and groaned. He was just about to vacate his seat in Bimbo Alley when Red stopped beside him.

"Can I help you?" He drawled out as the redhead simply stood there like a dolt. Fuck, this kid had staring problems or some shit. It would be just his luck to pick up a stalker before the end of first period too. Even if said stalker was admittedly hot and had mile long legs that could easily wrap around his waist.

"You're in my seat." Red finally spoke up and Mello raised an eyebrow as he turned to examine the seat for any signs of ownership.

"I don't seen your name on it." He said blithely and Red shuffled his feet before green eyes met his own. He wondered briefly how dark they could get when glazed with lust but focused on the present as the redhead opened his pretty little mouth again.

"It's not, I just always sit with Misa and Halle." He tried again and Mello raked his eyes over the taller boy's body before locking onto his eyes.

"And what would you be willing to do to get back?" he purred and the other boy blushed like a virgin on her wedding night.

"Just give him the seat." The amber-eyed blonde girl to his right snapped. Mello glanced over at her and stood.

"Take your seat." He said with an unnecessarily low bow. The blonde girls looked shocked for a moment and Mello smirked as he took the seat behind his previous one.

"Thank you." Red told him as the teacher called the class to order and Mello tilted his head slightly with a wolfish smile. He leaned forward and placed his mouth beside Red's ear.

"My pleasure. I like the view from back here anyway." He said huskily as he let his eyes fall to the redhead's ass and the teen in front of him turned as red as his hair.

Oh this is going to be fun.

* * *

**The blonde continued to bug **Matt throughout the rest of the class, distracting him with lewd comments that caused heat to rush to the redhead's face every few minutes. He was creative too and by the time they were half-way through the class his pants were uncomfortably tight, Matt having to shift to hide his hard on. Halle turned to glare at the blonde a couple of times but he only leered at her in return and flipped her off under the table. Misa simply watched them and giggled, assured in her knowledge that Matt would lend her the class notes if she needed him to.

It was the gentle nudge of the blonde boy's booted foot against the crack of Matt's jeans that had the redhead tumbling from his seat with an admittedly girly yelp. Matt heard the blonde chuckle behind him and inwardly flinched when a muttered "faggot" was thrown his way from the jock's in the last row. Picking himself up from the floor, he shot the blonde boy a withering look and apologized to Mrs. Bradley for interrupting the class.

When the bell rang Matt grabbed his things and headed toward the door, his antagonizer already out of the classroom. Halle stayed by his side since she had Government and Economics with him for second period and Matt sent her an appreciative smile.

"What a fucking asshole." She fumed as they waded through the crowd, her overlarge purse turned backpack hanging off her arm.

Matt nodded and gave her a somewhat lopsided grin. "He was a pain in the ass, that's for sure." He smiled and Halle turned to him open-mouthed.

"Mail Jeevas, did you just make a gay joke?" She scoffed and groaned when his grin only widened.

…

Lunch arrived quickly and Matt soon found himself making his way to the parking lot, and more importantly, his baby. He already had his headphones in and his volume up all the way. That's why it startled him so much when a hand slapped against Chevelle's driver side window, barring his way into the car and his ear-buds were yanked out.

"Hey faggot," A voice behind him growled out and Matt let out a hiss of annoyance. He turned around and found one of the school's resident neanderthals leaning over him with the rest of his pack in a semi-circle around them.

"Brian," Matt greeted with a pseudo-smile. "Can't say it's nice to see you."

"Likewise." The jock growled out and it was a physical ache for Matt not to roll his eye. Even if they were idiots he didn't much like the idea of him versus half the football team.

"Well I can feel my IQ dropping by the minute, so I'm just gonna..." Matt attempted to duck around Brian but was caught by the throat and slammed back into the door of his baby. He could here the metal groan from the abuse and that sound combined with the sharp pain of being _slammed into a door_ drew a yelp of indignation from him.

A few of Brian's cronies laughed. "When are you gonna learn that you're not wanted around here, huh?" Another boy, Tyler, piped up with a domineering smile.

Matt made to reply but the hand around his throat tightened and nothing but a choking sound escaped.

"Yeah, nobody wants you here, fag." A squat potato looking boy sneered and Matt would've glared at him if he hadn't been trying to make Brian spontaneously combust with his eyes.

"Well I don't know about that." A new voice drawled and Matt glanced over to see the blonde from English. "I could think of a few places I'd want him. Now drop him."

Brian released Matt and turned to the blonde with a snarl. Matt sucked in a breath and coughed, his lungs singing praises to the leather-clad biker boy.

"Good boy." The blonde congratulated and shook a reprimanding finger when the taller boy made to lunge at him. "Whoa, down there boy. I don't need you humping my knee just yet."

Then he kicked Brian in the nuts, hand tangling in the jock's hair to yank his head back.

"Call off your goons before I have to kick their asses too." Matt's new-found hero commanded but didn't wait for a reply, just slammed his knee up into the other boy's jaw.

Brian fell and curled in on himself, the rest of his friend rushing at the blonde. He tripped Tyler, launching him face-first to the ground with a well placed push at the back of his neck before grabbing Matt. He practically flung Matt onto the bike behind him, the redhead barely having time to lock his arms around his slim waist before they were roaring out of the parking lot.

Everything sped by in a blur, the bike racing through the streets as the blonde expertly weaved throughout traffic. Matt squeezed his eyes shut and tightened his grip, smiling at the annoyed sound that rumbled through the other boy's frame and into his own chest. He didn't know how long he simply held on but soon they were pulling into the driveway of a massive house. Matt would've even went so far as to say it was a mansion.

After a few moments of Matt simply staring at the house the blonde he was holding let out a sigh.

"We've stopped moving, ya' know. You can let go." He drawled and chuckled when Matt released him like he was on fire. The redhead stumbled off the bike and took a moment to will his legs to stop shaking as they met the ground. The other teen merely ran a hand through wind ruffled hair and trudged up to the house, Matt following along after him.

The blonde pushed a key into the lock and opened the door with a flick of his wrist, gesturing Matt inside before he shut the door behind them with a kick of his foot. The inside was just as huge as the outside had been with an open concept, white marble floors, and a grand staircase that lead up to the next level. The redhead let out a whistle as he looked around and the leather clad blonde watched him with sharp, calculating eyes.

"This is your house?" Matt finally managed to gasp out and the other boy just rolled his eyes.

"No, I just happen to own a key to the front door." He dead-panned and walked into an adjoining room that turned out to be an immaculately clean kitchen. Matt took a seat on a stool by the island and propped his elbows up on the marble surface as he watched Mello rummage around for food.

Surprisingly, the blonde pulled out fixings for _something _(vegetable oil, boneless chicken tenders, and potatoes) and smirked at Matt's incredulous look.

"Close your mouth before something winds up in it." The blue eyed boy told him and Matt snapped his mouth shut. He watched the blonde cook what he supposed was their lunch and then realized something that should have been obvious.

"I don't know your name."

The blonde jumped a little at the sudden sound of Matt's voice and their eyes met briefly before the blonde focused back on the food.

"Mello." He replied briefly and the redhead let out a little smile as he committed the name to memory.

"My name's Matt." He said before an awkward silence set in and the blonde made a non-committal noise. Matt's leg started to bounce in place as he grew restless, needing to fill the silence.

"So, what brings you here?" He blurted out before he could think better of it and Mello's brows furrowed when he looked over at him. "I mean, what brings you to Humboldt? It's like the asshole of California so I can't imagine it was because of this town's good attractions."

"My parents moved us here to get away from the city." Mello informed him and when Matt motioned for him to continue he let out a sigh. "They felt it would be a good idea to go somewhere peaceful after I got kicked out of my boarding school. Apparently my father grew up here or some shit."

"Oh," Matt paused. "Well then, welcome to Humboldt I guess." The redhead said and the other boy only snorted. He placed a plate of fried chicken with a side of french fries in front of the redhead. After grabbing a bottle of ketchup from the fridge he joined Matt at the island to eat. There was a stretch of silence as they consumed their lunch, a silence that the redheaded gamer felt the need to fill.

"Thank you for helping me out—" He began only to have Mello glare at him. Matt froze with a fry half-way to his mouth.

"You shouldn't let them treat you like that." The blonde said with a frown as he stabbed at his food with a fork. Matt winced in sympathy.

"It's not like I could—" He tired and Mello cut him off with an angry noise.

"You could've fought back." The leather clad boy corrected. "You could've done something instead of let them push you around like you're nothing. Believe me, it's hard enough being gay without having idiots think they can walk all over you."

"I'd rather have them walk all over me than get my ass kicked." Matt snapped back and Mello laughed.

"Oh yeah, because choking you is so much better." The blonde mocked and Matt scowled.

"Why are you being such a dick? I was just trying to thank you!"

The blonde sneered. "Don't. If I knew you were an idiot I wouldn't have bothered."

Matt hopped off of his stool and made his way toward the door. "Asshole." He yelled back, and maybe it was childish but he didn't care.

* * *

**Mello let out a growl **and yanked a hand through his hair as he watched Matt storm out of the kitchen. He was being completely honest when he'd said that he wouldn't have helped had he known that Matt would turn out to such an idiot. It angered him that Matt thought it was a good idea to just roll over for his tormenters. It bothered him because Mello was so used to fighting for everything and here was the dumb redhead letting a bunch of idiots degrade him without even a thought of sticking up for himself. He placed the dishes in the sink, resisting the urge to throw them, and followed the other boy out of the house.

He felt anger boil up in him at the sight of the taller boy leaning against his bike with his arms crossed and briefly thought of leaving him to find his own way to school. The blonde clenched his fists briefly and then took a calming breath as he spread his fingers. Climbing onto the bike he waited for the other boy to join him before tearing off down the street. He was going way too fast but honestly didn't care; he just relished in the feel of the wind against his skin and the adrenaline that rushed through his blood as they sped away from his home.

Matt was holding on just as tightly as before but the other teen was rigid, no longer pressed up against Mello's back like he had been before. They made it to the school in record time and Matt practically lunged off the bike.

"Thank you." He bit out and Mello gave him a mock solute that caused the redhead to scowl.

"Ass." He hiss as he stomped away and Mello glared after him.

"Idiot!" Mello called after him and Matt simply flipped him off.

* * *

**Okay, so that's the first chapter! Tell me what you think! I have so much planned for these two. And trust me, things get better. *winks***

**But leave a review, ohmigod! The next chapter will be up in a week.**

**Lot's of love and kittens,**

**Cheshire**


	2. You Have Yourself A Deal

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (ugly, gross sobbing at the unfairness of it all) or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: So here's chapter two in all of it's craziness. Yeah. I also did some minor edits to chapter one.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: You Have Yourself A Deal**

* * *

**Matt didn't see Mello again until** sixth period Trigonometry rolled around, his dislike for the class growing immensely when the blonde sauntered in. The other boy was subdued however. He didn't even bother looking at Matt as he took his seat and when the redhead glanced over halfway through the class he was met with the sight of Mello fast asleep, finished worksheets nearly falling off the corner of his desk.

Finishing his work quickly, along with his previously abandoned homework, he curled over in his seat and played his Game-Boy until the bell rang. After that it was a quick sprint to his lockers to drop off his extra crap and then he was making his way to the gym.

Most of the girl in the Dance and Spirit team were already there when he arrived, Rem and Misa already going through exercises.

"You're late." Takada snapped when she caught sight of him and Matt dropped his book bag to the ground with a groan.

"Lay off, Taki.." Amanda said from her spot at the center of the court and Takada glared at her.

"That's not my name." The other girl hissed back and Amanda rolled her eyes.

"Whatever."

"Good to see you're all here and ready for a fight." Naomi called in greeting as she padded into the gym in her dance shoes. "Matt, have you started on the mix tape for the talent show? Ms. Brian needs to run it by the administration office before we start choreography and we only have a month."

Matt silently held up a CD and Rem snatched it from his hand with a smile, lavender colored hair falling into her face before she blew it back.

"Awesome." She said and handed it off to Naomi, the rest of the girls now gathered around their captain.

"I have an extra copy too so we can start running through dance moves today." Matt told Misora as she tucked the mix-tape into her duffel bag and the raven haired girl nodded. Going over to the speaker station he set up his laptop and waited for the girls to get into position before he started the song.

A mesh of Savan'ts _Starfish_ and _Blow_ by Kesha blasted through the speakers and Misa let out a whoop as she listened. Matt set the song on repeat and took his place in front of the girls. The next hour or so was spent walking them through the dance, each girl throwing in ideas that were added and interchanged as the team got a feel of the song. By the end of the second hour they had begun to go through the dance fully, with the leads (Takada, Quinn and Naomi) taking up places behind Matt.

Most of the practice was a show of hips and hands, the girls flying around the floor in a blur of hair and short-shorts as they ran through the song over and over again. Matt kept up well with the girls and by the time Naomi called quits all of them were breathing rapidly and sweating. The redhead pushed his hair out of his face with a sigh, watching as Rem collapsed to the floor and pulled Amanda down with her. Takada went off to collect her bags as Misa bounded over.

"That was amazing!" She squealed, throwing her arms around Matt's neck as she hopped. The redhead winced internally at the fact that she still even felt like jumping, much less _moving,_ after three hours of solid dancing but that was Misa for you; a blonde ball of energy just waiting to be released on the unsuspecting world. The boy untangled himself from Misa's hold and chuckled when she pouted.

"I'm with Misa," Naomi spoke up from the where she was gathering her things. "The song's awesome."

"Just wait until you see what else I have planned for the competition." Matt called as Misora made her way toward the door. He saw the rest of the girls out, waiting for the gym to clear before he put on his dance play-list. It was mostly high-tempo songs and soon the air of the gym was thrumming. The red-head went through a couple of stretches and routine dances before really letting himself listen to the music. The school was completely empty, the gym was free space and Matt could let himself get lost in the rhythm.

It was comforting of sorts, a way to let out any feelings he had collected throughout the day and the redhead soon found himself cocooned in the beat of the song, letting his body move with it.

That is, until he heard the slow, almost sarcastic clapping coming from the gymnasium doors.

* * *

**Mello made his way though the** empty halls of the school, irritated at the double detentions that had kept him after for two fucking hours. He wasn't in much of a hurry to get home either, seeing how the house was just as empty as the school, but he could honestly think of a whole list of other places he'd rather be than cooped up in a classroom with Mr. Cooper and his pit stains. Taking a sharp left as he came into view of the double doors leading to the parking lot, and ultimately his bike, he caught a blur of red hair and long legs.

And paused.

Then he back-tracked a little, eyebrows raising in admiration as he watched a familiar (and idiotic) redhead move in a way that should have been illegal and banned in several different countries. Including France, hell, especially France.

Shaking his head, Mello clicked his tongue against his teeth and slipped into the gym. He made sure to catch the door with his foot, ensuring it's soft closure before he let himself take in the view. Because even if the idiotic redhead was a weak-willed pacifist with a victim complex, he was still a _hot_ weak-willed pacifist with a victim complex. And a nice ass. And really long legs.

_Jesus Mello, pull yourself together_, he internally reprimanded as the song ended. Raising his hands, he let a smirk grace his face as he clapped, slow and steady. It was irritating and drew the redhead's attention immediately, the taller boy stumbling to a stop as heat rushed to his cheeks.

"If I had known you looked this good out of breath and covered in sweat I never would have let you out of my house." Mello told him and Matt eyebrows knitted together ever so much as he sucked air into his lungs.

"Ass," Matt finally managed to gasp out and the blonde took pity, tossing him a water bottle that had been placed on the bottom row of the bleachers.

'From what I can see you have a very nice one." Mello drawled and the redhead blushed the color of his hair.

"No, you're an ass," Matt shot back as he made his way toward his laptop and discarded backpack.. "And I'm leaving."

The redhead brushed past him with a light push of his shoulder and Mello clicked his tongue once more, letting the other boy create distance before he jogged after him.

"While I do love a good game of playing hard to get, I'd really love if you'd give me the chance to pull that stick out your ass babe." He purred once he'd reached the redhead's side and Matt very nearly snarled.

"Like I would ever give you the time of day." Matt replied, quickening his pace so that the shorter male nearly had to jog to keep up.

"Not necessarily but I can work you all night if it's more convenient." Mello shot back.

Matt rounded on his, green eyes blazing. "You're impossible." He fumed but the blonde only gave him a charming smile.

"And you're hot. So let's fuck." Mello quipped as they reached the redhead's car. He slid in between the taller boy and his cherry red muscle car and looked up with pleading eyes.

"Cute," Matt said in a clipped tone before running a hand through his hair. "If I let you take me out on a date, then you agree to leave me alone. No more flirting or lewd comments in class."

"Throw in a full night of sex in there and you might have yourself a deal babe." Mello countered and Matt pushed him out of the way in order to get into the driver's seat.

The blonde paused for a second, deliberating his options. He really wanted in Matt's pants, but he could tell the redhead didn't want a quick high-school fuck. And if that was the case then Mello could play the dating game until the other boy decided it was time to put out. It wouldn't be the first time.

With a frustrated groan he dragged his hand through his shoulder length hair and clicked his tongue. Then he placed an arm on the roof of the car and leaned down to look at Matt.

"Okay, no sex. Just a date and I stop fucking with you during class." He conceded and Matt smiled at him for once.

"You have yourself a deal." The redhead said and Mello grinned before closing the driver's side door. He watched the Chevelle pull out of the lot with a satisfied smile and turned to his own ride. The bike roared to life beneath him before settling to a rumbling purr as he slipped on his helmet.

* * *

**The next day at school began** with no signs of the blonde, much to Matt's immense relief. It had been a long time since Matt could actually say he was attracted to someone, but Mello seemed to have a knack for arousing both his temper and his libido. Just thinking about the blonde pissed him off in a horny sort of way and he'd rather drown himself than admit but he was looking forward to their date. He honestly blamed teenage hormones for the whole mess that made up his thought process concerning Mello at the moment and instead decided to bask in the blonde's absence.

The late bell for first period came and went with no sign of Mello and Matt relaxed, listening to Mrs. Bradley give them directions concerning their first book assignment of the year. It was the _Picture of Dorian Gray_ and Matt smiled at the familiar title only to let out a groan when Mello finally walked into the room.

Mrs. Bradley frowned at the blonde and opened her mouth to tell him to go to to OCR (he still didn't know what the hell that stood for) but snapped her mouth shut when Mello threw a note on her desk and walked past her to his own seat. She read over the note quickly and cleared her throat.

"Thank you for joining us Mr. Kheel." She said and handed him a copy of the novel. Mello looked it over and rolled his eyes before he settled deeper into his seat with a tired sigh.

"I was kind of hoping you weren't going to show up." Matt hissed once the teacher turned her attention elsewhere and Mello glanced up at him.

"Sorry to disappoint you, babe." Mello drawled out and Matt snorted.

"I'm sure there are a lot of things about you that I'd find disappointing." Matt shot back and Mello smirked.

"Then why did you agree to date me?" He leered and the redhead huffed out an annoyed breath.

"Because you promised to leave me alone if I did!" He snapped and Mello's eyes glinted mischievously.

"Please, we both know you'll be begging to have my dick up your ass before we get through the first five minutes." And there was the crass asshole that Matt wanted to punch in the face. He could feel anger streaking through his blood-stream even as his stomach fluttered at Mello's words.

"Mello," Matt bit out louder than intended only to have a ruler smack onto his desk sharply.

"Since it seems that you two are hitting it off so well," Mrs. Bradley cut in sharply and Matt flinched. "Why don't you two partner up for the remainder of this assignment."

Matt gaped. "But—"

"I don't want to here it, Mr. Jeevas." She snapped and the redhead sunk down in his chair with an irritated sigh. Mello laughed and the woman's blazing eyes settled on him.

"I hope you find it so funny when you're working together for the remained of the year Mr. Kheel." She told him and Matt jumped out of his seat wide-eyed. There went his plan of never seeing Mello after their 'date'. He'd even mapped out a new schedule to turn into his guidance counselor and everything.

"What?!" He sputtered as Mello smirked at Mrs. Bradley.

"Fine by me." He yawned and Matt glared at him over his shoulder.

"I can't work with him!" He told the teacher desperately only for her to frown.

"Sit down." She snapped and Mello snickered.

"He'd have to take the fucking rod out of his ass before he does. Although it's so far up there I doubt he could reach it." The blonde said and Mrs. Bradley eyes blazed.

"Both of you go to the principal's office. Now!" She growled and Mello rose with a huff. "Then after school meet me here for detention."

Matt turned red and snatched up his bag, storming after the blonde boy as he led the way toward the principal's. Mello didn't even bother to look back at him, just shoved his hands into the pockets of his black jeans and kept walking.

"Heya, Roger." The blonde called as he plopped down in the chair opposite of the principal's desk. The balding man's eyes narrowed at the sight of the leather-clad teen and he seemed to slump forward.

"Mello," He greeted before he turned his eyes to Matt. "I see you've drug someone down with you this time."

Mello simply grinned and clicked his tongue. "I just couldn't stay away. And Matty here offered up to join us for our little sexual escapades. I felt it would be rude to deny him a good boning."

Roger turned red with anger, and Matt from embarrassment, sputtering at the blonde indignantly before he took a calming breath.

"What did you do this time?" He sighed and Mello shrugged a shoulder.

"That AP Lit bitch has no sense of humor." He said in loo of an answer.

Roger seemed to realized that he'd get nothing from Mello and turned to Matt. "Care to explain?" He asked and Matt shook his head. The old man let out another sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Assuming that Mrs. Bradley has a punishment planned for you, I'm going to send you to OCR for the remainder of the morning."

Matt opened his mouth to protest and the principal cut his off with a sharp wave of his hand. "You will report back to my office tomorrow morning before your first period after I've talked to her to further discuss your punishment seeing as I have nothing to go on at the moment." He motioned for them to leave.

"See ya' tomorrow old man." Mello called as he left the room, Matt following him with an annoyed growl, and Roger rubbed his temple.

"I hate you." Matt snapped as soon as they were out into the halls again and Mello laughed.

"Not for long." The blonde sing-songed as he lead the way and Matt hated his stupid confidence. And his face. And the way those fucking jeans hugged the blonde's hips in all the right places. Hot damn.

Mello looked back at him with a knowing smirk but Matt only crossed his arms and settled on a glare in response. That didn't really deter Mello though, who just kept on walking until they reached the parking lot. The redhead halted by the doors and bit his lip. He couldn't ditch.

"Mello, I can't ditch classes." He hissed at the blonde's retreating back.

"We have OCR until lunch." The blonde called back. "It's not like you were going to make your classes anyway." He paused and looked at Matt over his shoulder.

"Besides, we have a date to get to."

* * *

**This chapter is slightly shorter than the first. (I'm still hitting my 3000 word goal though. Go me!)**

**This chapter also seemed to take on a mind of it's own. So, if any of you are confused as to what the hell just happened between Matt and Mello, well you kind of know how Matt feels at the moment. The gist is that Mello's a cocky, seductive, horny, manipulative, teenage boy who really (really) wants to get in Matt's pants. And ass. And mouth. Basically anywhere he can get inside of Matt that's where he wants to be. **

**And Matt? Well he's just a gay teenage boy in a small town who suddenly has some big city bad-boy trying to charm his pants off while his hormones work against him at every turn. **

**But please, PLEASE, trust me when I say that this *gestures wildly at story* turns into something great that will most likely make you piss fan-girl tears from your eyes. **

**Other than that, review and I'll be happier than a hog on slop. (Someone please get the Footloose reference in that.) **

**As always, lots of love and kittens and all that,**

**Cheshire**


	3. This Is Just Too Easy

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (One can always hope for awesome birthday, holiday, wedding, or random I-love-you gifts, right?) or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: In this chapter you get the date. And, oh, what a date it is! But just as a heads up for the more virgin minded readers (like I have **_**any**_** after Guns, Sex, And Power) there's no sex, so you can rest easy. For now.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: This Is Way Too Easy**

* * *

Mello grinned at the feeling of Matt's arms once again wrapping around his waist and hugging him tight as he rode toward his house. It was a cautious sort of contact, the redhead still obviously butt-hurt over Mello landing him in detention, but Mello decided to be happy with what he could get at the moment.

It wasn't the first time he'd had to take things slow to get into someone's pants and Matt wasn't the hottest piece of ass Mello had attempted to nab either. It was all part of the game and to be honest Mello didn't think he'd be stuck in this shit town long enough to do much more that fuck Matt and leave him in whatever shit-hole he resided in.

They pulled into Mello's driveway in record time and Matt hopped off the back of the bike, arms unwinding from Mello's waist hastily. Damn if this boy wasn't going to make him work. Turning off the bike, Mello led the way into the house and tossed his bag in the livingroom's entryway. It was empty, as it usually was, and Mello had no doubt that his parents had been dragged off to some important board meeting in New York or Berlin or fuck knows where.

"This is really what you had planned for a date?" Matt asked and Mello could feel the disdain rolling off the redhead in waves. Because apparently a fucking _mansion_ wasn't good enough.

"Just sit on the couch and look pretty while I get our shit." Mello grumbled, waving toward the multiple couches in the livingroom. Matt huffed but did as he was told and Mello went off to gather the few things they'd need for their date. It wasn't much, just some food and a blanket. Grabbing the electric lantern from the closet in the garage, he clicked his tongue and lugged an old fashioned picnic basket from the its place in the back of the pantry. Once everything was gather he sorted it and packed it into the basket.

When he finally got back into the living room Matt was on his hands and knees digging in the cubby beneath the TV. Mello took a moment to admire the view and then cleared his throat. There was a painful sounding thud and then Matt's clutching his head and cussing up a storm.

"Not that I don't enjoy seeing you on your knees, but what the hell are you doing?

The redhead looked over at Mello and rubbed his head, a light blush dusting his cheeks at being caught looking through someone else's stuff. "I was looking for movies." He explained and the Mello snorted out a laugh.

"You won't find them in there dip-shit." Mello told him, hoping that the smile on his face took some of the bite out his words. He didn't need Matt stomping out of his in a hissy fit again. He needed this date to go well. So he glanced over at the kitchen's entryway behind him and made a split second decision.

"If you want I can show you the Entertainment room where we keep the movies and games and shit." He told the redhead and Matt perked up like it was Christmas, sore head seemingly forgotten as he followed Mello out of the room. The blonde made sure to grab the basket full of food from the kitchen island, then looped around to the entry way and led the way down the hall to what his parents called the Theater Room. Matt's jaw dropped when he caught sight of the movie screen along the room's far wall, rows upon rows of plush leather gamer chairs standing between him and the _entire wall_ of games and movies that were placed on shelves on either side of the screen. Mello didn't bother telling him to close his mouth this time, content to watch as the gamer seemed to reboot his mind.

"Holy shit." Matt breathed after a moment of open-mouthed staring. "Holy. Fucking. Shit! I can't believe I walked out of this fucking house yesterday."

And that got Mello to frown because, was it only yesterday? It seemed so much longer somehow but after a moment of reflection he decided that, yes, it had only been one day since he'd met Matt in the high-school parking lot.

"Don't just stand there, dude. Get you skinny ass down here." Matt called from where he was, already across the room and setting up an X-Box 360 to the projector. Mello made his way down the aisle and roamed through the games until he found one he knew he could kick Matt's ass in. He tossed it to the redhead who caught it and tossed back a cordless controller.

"You have wi-fi right?" He asked and Mello nodded. "Sweet, we're playing live. Now grab a headset Blondie because I am personally about to school your ass."

Mello simply slipped on his mic and smirked.

* * *

"**Would you fucking shoot him **already?!" Mello yelled and Matt huffed. The redhead was currently perched on a roof with a sniper rifle, picking off enemies that were sneaking up on Mello who was _supposed_ to be getting the opposing team's flag. It would have been a solid plan if it wasn't for the fucking n00b with the rocket launcher that had somehow managed to get in one of Matt's only blind spots.

"I'll go get him." Matt said and his made his way down to the ground via the roofs of the smaller buildings around him. Their mutual target was perched on the rock 'stairway' near the side street leading to the larger downtown buildings, which sucked because one of the only ways to get there was via the inclined street leading to the bastard's actual hiding spot. It was basically open ground but Matt refused to get killed by some kid with a fucking rocket launcher. Making his way along Main, he shot anyone that wasn't a teammate and sprinted into one of the two story houses lining the street. Running up the steps he crouched and raised his gun, waiting for any sign of movement before letting off a shot. Bit's of stone sprayed out and his target ran out from behind the rocks like a frightened bunny.

"Jesus, this is way too easy." He muttered and landed a head-shot. Mello let out a sigh and moved past where he'd been stuck dodging grenades for the past minute or so.

"Got the flag." The blonde crowed and then cursed as he caught sight of players from the other team. Matt had switched to a sub machine gun by now and was running toward where Mello was carrying the flag.

"Got your back." He told the blonde who merely grunted back as he jumped a grenade and ducked behind a building to avoid the blast. Matt cursed and back-tracked behind an dumpster. "A little warning on the grenades next time Mells." Matt snapped good-naturedly and the blonde grinned.

"Whatever you say." The other boy said as their base came in sight. Matt let out a victorious whoop when they reached it and the game stats were put up. Mello simply slumped lower in his chair and tossed his controller onto one of the adjoining seats. They had been playing various games for what felt like hours, Call of Duty: Black Ops being the most recent of their choices. But now Matt's fingers were starting to stiffen and his stomach was seriously trying to grow teeth and devour itself.

"God, I'm starving." He grumbled and Mello's gaze flicked over to him then over to the basket that was sitting by his feet.

"Help yourself." The blonde told him as he stood and stretched. "I'll grab some drinks."

Matt watched the blonde leave before diving over toward the basket and raising his eyes to the ceiling in a thankful prayer when he caught sight of the Subway style sandwiches and various bags of chips nestled in with a blanket. He looked down at the pristine carpet underneath him and shrugged before pulling out the blanket and spreading it out in front of the screen. He dug out a pair of plates and set the sandwiches down on them, bags of chips dumped out in the center of his makeshift picnic spread.

When he looked over at the door for any sign of Mello his eyes lit upon the extra door on the right side of the room and, well, his curiosity got the best of him. Climbing off of the blanket he padded (he had kicked off his shoes somewhere in the middle of God Of War) across the room and opened the door just wide enough to peak inside. Then his jaw dropped (it seemed to be doing that a lot today) and he let the door swing open wide as he just took in the sight before him. The familiar click of a tongue against teeth alerted him to Mello's presence behind him and he resisted the urge to fall to his knees in worship.

"I see you found the candy closet." The blonde spoke up and Matt could tell he had one of those delicate eyebrows raised just by the sound of his voice.

"Uh, yeah." Matt said as he eyed the popcorn machine enthusiastically. "I can't believe you let me walk out of your fucking house." Matt added in a pissy tone and the blonde shot him a thousand-watt smile that had Matt seriously reconsidering his life choice not to become a periodical nudest.

"I'm still kicking myself in the balls for that." Mello replied with an easy grin and Matt found himself laughing, completely care-free and relaxed for what felt like the first time since he'd started high-school. Because Mello was quickly becoming a friend, a really fucking awesome friend who happened to be gay, and hot, and not a girl. It was like Fate had finally stopped pissing on him or something. He even found himself forgiving the blonde for kicking him in the ass the first day of school.

…

Lunch was a mostly silent affair, each boy tucking into their food with a gusto usually reserved for teenage boys. Matt was pretty sure he'd eaten every bag of Doritos and was now upside down on a gaming chair with a Nerds Rope hanging out of his mouth. Mello was laid out on the floor eating the biggest fucking chocolate bar Matt had seen in his life. Seriously, it was like the fucking twenty pounder from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or some shit but Mello was nibbling at like a rabbit with a carrot. (Okay that was a hyperbole but it was still a big ass chunk of coco.)

There were watching Underworld and Selene was starting to remind him of a certain other leather clad person in his life with pretty blue eyes. Yeah, Mello could totally rock the sexy vampire look, he decided as he stretched. His back popped and he shivered , watching as one of the vampire got their head ripped off. The redhead let his thoughts drift, flickering between the action that was happening on screen and the blonde laying in front of his chair until the credits started to roll. He realized that he'd sucked up his candy rope like a spaghetti noodle sometime during around the time when Selene was being broken out of her ice chamber.

"Hey Mello," Matt called down to the other boy and baby blue eyes focused over on him. "Could you teach me how to do that?"

Mello narrowed his eyes at him in confusions, golden strands of hair shifting as he tilted his head. "What?"

Matt huffed and looked down (up?) at his feet. "Could you teach me how to do that?" He gestured toward the screen that was still rolling credits. "How to fight, I mean."

"Seriously?" Mello asked and Matt rolled his eyes.

"No, I want you to teach me how to hit Mariah Carey's high notes." The redhead drawled sarcastically but Mello for once didn't turn the comment into a sexual innuendo.

"Yeah, I could teach you to fight." Mello told him, giving Matt a deliberating look. Then he nodded and a shit eating grin appeared on his face. "I'm pretty sure I could get you to hit those high notes too if you'd let me."

Matt gaped at him, and then threw his hands up (down?) into the air. "I can't believe I started to think of you as a friend." He exclaimed and Mello smirked.

"Oh please, you just asked me to start working your body," Mello shot back with a grin. "At least have the decency to add the 'with benefits' tag onto the back of that."

"You are not working my body Mello, you're turning me into a weapon of mass destruction." Matt replied as his phone vibrated three times in his pocket, signaling that he had a text.

The blonde rolled his eyes. "I prefer the term mass seduction." Mello said and Matt took a moment to appreciate the Robert Downey Jr quote before he checked his text messages.

_Matt cn u com pck me up at Britts? _It was a text from Sayu and Matt for once checked the time. His eyes widened as he read 8:02 because, fuck, he had lost track of time. He never lost track of time. He had like an internalized clock or some shit. It had been fucking _hours_. He'd missed dance practice with the girls. Fuck, he was dead. Takada was going to claw out his eyes with her manicured nails and then rip out his throat with those ridiculously white teeth.

"Dude breathe," Mello commanded, suddenly beside him. "You look like someone just threatened to murder you pet kitten via text message."

"I'm allergic to cats." Matt replied automatically and Mello rolled his eyes. "I need a ride back to my car. My sister wants me to pick her up from her friends."

"Where's her friend's place?" Mello asked as he picked himself up off the floor and slipped on his shoes. "We can pick her up and then I can drop both of you off at the school."

"Mello, I hate to tell you this, but I doubt all three of us are going to fit on your bike." Matt said and Mello gave him a scathing look.

"Don't be a smart ass, dumb ass." He snapped and Matt grinned.

"You know that made like no fucking sense, right?"

"You know that using the word 'like' like that is incorrect grammar, right?" Mello said as he led the way to the four-car garage.

"Stop being such a grammar Nazi."

"Stop being such a dumb ass."

"You like my—holy shit, that's your car?!" Matt exclaimed mid-sentence and, God, were his pants tight? "Dude, tell me you do not own a Berlinetta!"

Mello looked back at him as he clicked the unlock button on a little remote that seemed to have appeared out of thin air. "I don't own a Berlinetta."

"Un-fucking-believable." Matt half groaned half sighed as Mello scowled at him. Matt barely noticed, since he was too busy trying to fuck the blonde's car with his eyes.

"Would you get in the damn car?" Mello snapped and Matt practically jumped into the passenger door that Mello had thrown open.

…

Holy hell in a hand-basket he was in a Ferrari. He was riding in a Ferrari! And not just any Ferrari, a F12 Berlinetta. Jesus Christ, they were barely road legal!

And Mello had one.

Matt decided then and there that Fate enjoyed pissing on him, because no matter how much he loved his baby he'd seriously cheat on Chevelle with this car. He sighed and listened to the engine purr as Mello drove through the surrounding high-class neighborhoods to where Sayu was waiting.

Oh yeah, he'd cheat.

* * *

"**Matt, quit stroking my emergency** brake." Mello growled out. The redhead had been absentmindedly running his long fingers over the brake for the last couple minutes and to say it was distracting was the understatement of the fucking century. Mello wanted to jump him. He wanted to kick off his too-tight jeans, spread the redhead's legs and ravage him until the other boy was a writhing mess of lust and wanton sounds. And the bastard wasn't even aware that he was doing it!

"I'm not stroking your—oh, sorry Mells."

Mello sighed and took a right. He caught sight of a skinny brunette girl standing beside a shorter blonde girl and... Oh hell, that was the dumb jock he'd kicked in the balls yesterday. Matt bit out a curse from beside him as Mello pulled the Ferrari to a stop in front of the house and narrowed his eyes as Brent (Bradley? No, that was their teacher's name.) stalked toward the car once he caught sight of Matt.

Matt ignored the larger boy, even if Mello caught the fact that the redhead's shoulder had tensed like a taut bow string. "Hey Sayu, Britt." The gamer called with a goofy little wave and Mello rolled his eyes.

The blonde girl beamed. "Hey Matt, sweet ride."

"I know right," Matt gave the car a longing look as Mello climbed out and leaned against the open frame. "Not mine though."

The blonde one (he was guessing it was Brittany—she looked like a Brittany—plus the other girl was obviously Japanese) focused on Mello with bright green eyes then looked back at Matt.

"You never told me you had a girlfriend." She said and Mello's jaw dropped as Matt emitted a loud laugh that had him clutching his sides.

"Oh Jesus." He gasped as he wiped at a fake tear.

"I'm a guy you little bi—" Matt shot him a look. "Girl."

"Faggots don't date girls, Britt." Her older brother growled out and Sayu tensed beside Matt.

"Don't say that." She snapped at the jock and Brent/Bradley shot her a derisive look.

"What, faggot?" He asked and Mello's fist clenched.

"Hey asshole, why don't you go lumber your dumb ass into the house and fist your little dick to a porno." Mello told him and the other boy sneered at him.

"Really Princess, dick jokes?" He growled out and Mello smirked.

"That wasn't a joke dumb-ass. I got a pretty good feel of your tic-tac when I kicked you in the balls, so I'm just stating a fact."

"You little shit!" Brad/Brent yelled only to cut off with a pained yelp as his sister kicked him.

"Leave them the fuck alone, Brian." She snapped and Mello laughed. Oh, he liked her. Even if she had called him a girl. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and hugged Sayu, waving at both Matt and himself. "See you at school Sayu. Bye Matt, Matt's boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend!" Matt called as she shooed her brother toward the house with a furious hiss and she gave the redhead a knowing smile.

"Sure, whatever you say."

* * *

**Another chapter under wraps and another weekly dead line reached. Next week Halle does a bit of snooping (as Matt's designated best friend and boyfriend checker) and Sachiko does some meddling of her own.**

**Again, thank you so much for the awesome support through your reviews, faves, and follows. I'm feeling the love. I'm kind of hoping that this story tops GS&P because, well, all an author can ever do is improve. **

**In other news, I'm contemplating another DN story that I will be working on during this one. It will be posted afterwards though so I don't get overwhelmed with trying to handle two big stories. But how do you guys feel about a cage-fighter!Mello and Med-student!Matt fic? (With a little twist of course.) I need feedback on this!**

**But yeah, REVIEW!**

**And I love you all and kittens and shit,**

**Cheshire**


	4. How Do You Not Know

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (*swan dives off cliff*)or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: Welcome to chapter four kittens!**

* * *

**Chapter 4: How Do You Not Know**

* * *

**Halfway through the drive home**, after picking up his car and ushering Sayu into the passenger seat, Sachiko texted Matt asking him to pick up a box of Panko flakes. The redhead groaned and nearly let his head fall to the steering wheel but, hey, he was driving and he really didn't want to total his baby. He pulled into a mini-mart on the side of the road and turned to tell Sayu to get out only to wince internally at the smile on her face.

"So, who's your boyfriend?" She asked as she slipped out of the car and Matt's shoulders sagged.

"He's not my boyfriend Sayu." He told her and she gave him an unimpressed look. (He really needed to keep her away from Halle in the future.)

"You were riding in his car."

"That doesn't immediately entitle us being boyfriends."

Sayu paused to wave at the the only cashier in the market and made her way to the isle designated to Japanese foods. "It's a sex car, Matt. What normal teenage boy drives his friend home in a Ferrari?"

_What normal teenage boy can?_ Matt thought and then shook it off as his adoptive sister pressed the box into his chest.

"We needed something other than his motorcycle to pick you up in, Sayu." Matt told her and she rolled her eyes.

"Puh-lease, that monster didn't have a backseat."

"Doesn't that invalidate the sex-mobile argument?"Matt tried and Sayu gave a look that seriously questioned his IQ. (Yeah, she was definitely turning into a Halle drone.)

"Reclining seats."

…

Sachiko greeted them warmly when they finally arrived home and Matt smiled at her. Making his way upstairs he skipped his X-Box for the time being and instead looked over the curriculum for their English project. He'd honestly only ever made it through half of the _Picture of Dorian_ _Gray_ before and wasn't looking forward to a mandatory reread.

Nevertheless he fished the book from his backpack and settled against his headboard. The redhead cracked it open to the first chapter and let his eyes skim over the page before returning to the top. He was halfway through the third chapter when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in!"

A flawless brunette thatch of hair peeked around the door and Matt sat his book down, binding facing up so he didn't lose the page.

"Dinner's ready." Light's eyes roamed around the messy room and his nose wrinkled. "You're room is disgusting."

"Your face is disgusting." Matt shot back childishly and Light rolled his eyes before retreating around the door. Matt stretched and let himself sag back into his bed for a long moment before he eventually dragged himself to his feet.

The meal was mostly accompanied with aimless chatter, Sachiko asking each of them about their day. Luckily, Light didn't mention Matt not being present for lunch, the older boy merely offering up a few comments about Misa's well-being and an upcoming tennis tryout.

"Why don't you tell mom about your new friend, Matt?" Sayu said after a particular lull in conversation and Matt shot a look that should have had her quivering in a corner.

Sachiko looked up from her shrimp, clearly interested. "What friend?"

"It's just a new boy at school." Matt said flippantly because Sachiko didn't exactly know about him being gay and _that_ was not a conversation he wanted to have right now.

"The biker?" Light asked in a shocked sort of voice and then looked guilty as Matt sunk even lower into into his seat.

"Biker?" Sachiko repeated in an alarmed tone, focusing on Matt. "You're friends with a biker?"

"Oh don't worry about it mom, Mello's cool, and he totally has the hots—"

"I'm going to go to bed." Matt announced just as Soichiro stepped through the front door. The redhead gathered his half-eaten meal and shot Sayu a look that practically screamed for her to _shut the fuck up_! She stopped with her fork halfway to her mouth, eyes widening as she realized what she'd almost said and mouthed a silent apology as Matt passed her on his way to the kitchen. Sachiko followed him and watched as he washed, rinsed, and stacked his dishes in the drying rack.

"I'll tell your father that you aren't feeling well." She told him as she placed a kiss on his cheek and petted his hair. He leaned into the touch briefly and sighed, enjoying the motherly gesture. Sachiko smiled at him when he yawned and shooed him out of the kitchen.

Once back in his room Matt didn't bother with the lights, merely stripping off his jeans and shirt in the darkness and feeling his way to the bed. He pushed his homework to the floor and flopped down onto his bed with a long sigh before pulling the blankets over himself.

He was drifting between sleep and consciousness when he realized that he'd missed detention with Mrs. Bradley after school.

_Shit_, he thought then promptly fell asleep.

* * *

**Mello stifled a yawn as** he sunk deeper into the chair across from Roger. Matt was sitting beside him looking pissy as ever and the stupid Lit bitch had stationed herself between them and Roger's desk.

She was currently giving a recap of their 'disturbance' in her class the previous day and Mello tried not to fall asleep. It had been a long time since he'd gotten a full night's sleep, a habit which had formed during elementary school. There were only so many nights you could stay up waiting for your parents to get home before you turned into an insomniac and his body had long ago gotten accustomed to functioning with very little sleep. But the eventual crash was what really killed him.

Currently he could feel a crash coming on as he shielded another yawn behind his hand. He tuned back into the one-sided conversation between Bradley and Roger only to hear the woman bitching about his and Matt's skipped detention.

That brought his mind to the previous day and a small smile graced Mello's lips as he remembered the truly good time he and Matt had had yesterday. It had been forever since he'd spent one-on-one time with someone that didn't end in sex. Not since Linda.

He shook the thought off in time to hear Roger's final verdict concerning their punishment.

Matt was out of his seat in seconds, protesting as usually, but the blonde merely shrugged.

A week of detention with the sexy redhead wouldn't be so bad and it wasn't like he had anything to do after school but return to an empty house. Still, Matt seemed pissed enough for the both of them so Mello let the redhead take the lead in storming out of the office.

…

First period passed with minimal fuss, Mrs. Bradley shooting both him and Matt scathing looks whenever possible. _Bitch_, Mello thought humorlessly and let his head rest on the table. He could feel a headache forming quickly and resolved to get some type of caffeinated drink once lunch rolled around.

All he needed to do was get through the next two periods and he was scotch free for a full hour.

That sentiment turned out to be easier said than done though.

By the time the lunch bell rang he had two more detention added to his ever growing list. One for sleeping in second hour and the other for pulling out a knife in the middle of anatomy instead of getting up and walking all the way across the room for a scalpel that the school had provided. Which he found stupid as fuck, because a knife was a knife. If he had really wanted to stab someone he could have just as easily done it with a scalpel.

After the whole knife fiasco he found himself once again in Roger's office and, funnily enough, the old man looked like he was about to have an aneurism.

"You brought a knife onto school grounds." Roger said after a long silence and Mello rolled his eyes.

"Don't flatter yourself with thinking your special Roger, I carry that knife everywhere." He told him and the man's bushy eyebrows bunched together like some weird mutant caterpillar.

"I don't believe that's going to help your case Mello." Roger told him and Mello sighed.

"I don't want it to." Matt replied before blinking his eyes open fully. "Look, I'm tired as hell and hungry as fuck so if we could hurry this along I'll be forever in your debt."

"Mello," Roger began and the blonde fought the urge to throw his hands into the air.

"Then add another detention to the list."

Roger sighed and tented his fingers. "That won't be necessary. You'll be serving in school suspension for the remainder of the week, but right now I would like you to go get lunch and then report to the nurse's office. Tell her you're sick and catch up on your sleep."

Mello paused in gathering his bag and looked at Roger with wide, blood-shot eyes. Then a smirked played across his features as he schooled his normal cocky expression back into place.

"You're not half bad old man." He said and made his way out of the room.

* * *

"**So what's going on with **you and the hot blonde from English?" Halle asked as she set her food down across from him at lunch. Matt nearly spit his soda in her face but instead managed to choke on his drink and spent the next couple minutes or so hacking up his lungs. Halle gave him an unimpressed look and studied her neatly trimmed nails.

"You done yet?" She asked after a moment, because there was no way she was letting Matt wiggle his way out of this.

Matt glared at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, you and Mello leave class yesterday and don't come back, then he's eye-fucking you all through English today." She held up a hand when Matt attempted to interrupt and the redhead slumped against the table. "And I have it on good authority from Misa and Takada that you didn't show up to practice yesterday after school. Explain."

Matt deliberated his options and decided to stall instead. Stalling was good, stalling was safe. He liked safe. Safety was his friend, or at least that's what the motivational poster behind Halle's head said.

"Uhhhh...since when do you talk to Takada?"

"Matt, I will claw your eyes out." Halle told him with a pointed look and Matt gulped.

"Okay fine, Jesus." Matt said and looked over his shoulder for possible unwanted listeners. "He's not my boyfriend okay."

A grin tipped Halle's lips. Oh, this was promising.

...

Halle cornered the black clad blonde boy outside of the nurse's office with a predatory glint in her eyes.

"Hello Mello, my name's Halle, pleasure to meet you." She greeted as she linked her arm with his. Mello looked startled for a moment before he attempted to pull free and Halle dug her nails in. Literally. The blonde boy looked at the claws in his arm and turned to glare at her. Halle scoffed.

"Oh puh-lease, you're going to have to do better than that, cupcake." She told him and steered them toward her next class. "Anyway, a little birdie told me that you're making a play for Matty."

Mello rolled his eyes. "Please tell me I've fallen into an episode of Gossip Girl." He dead-panned and Halle's perfectly glossed lips tipped into a smile.

"I like you." She said as she practically dragged the shorter blonde through the halls. "But that's not important. You want in Matt's pants and as his best friend I can tell when he seriously needs to get laid. So I feel it's in both of our interests to help each other out."

"How would me fucking Matt help you exactly?" Mello asked and Halle tilted her head to the side in thought.

"Aside from him finally losing his v-card and making me proud, he'll stop getting that horrible constipated look on his face whenever he sees a couple walk by him. It's sad Mello, and that's why I need you to put an end to it."

"Sorry lady, but Matt's not letting me between his legs any time soon." Mello said and Halle's smiled morphed into a full on grin.

"That's what you have me for."

"And what are you going to do exactly?" He asked after a moment. Halle's smile turned dazzling.

"I'm going to turn you into the perfect guy. Matt's perfect guy, to be exact. And you," She jabbed a finger into his chest. "Are going to nod your pretty little head and agree or I will gouge your eyes out with nails."

"Uh-huh," Mello replied noncommittally and clicked his tongue against his teeth. Then he nodded his head and Halle beamed.

* * *

**Matt drummed his pencil against **his desk and tried (unsuccessfully) to ignore Mello. It wasn't really the blonde that was the problem. No, Matt had grown to regard Mello with a cautious sort of amicability after their 'date' the other day. What was currently driving Matt up the wall was the blonde's tongue and Mello's insistence of _clicking it against his teeth_ every two minutes. (Oh yeah, he'd counted.)

Not for the first time he considered turning around and telling Mello to stop but ended up swallowing his words and turning back to _Dorian Gray_. No matter how hard he tried to concentrate on reading that fucking click would piston into his ear like a gunshot and Matt found his mind drifting to very filthy things that had nothing to do with the novel in his hands and everything to do with what the other boy's tongue could do.

Shifting in his seat, Matt crossed his legs to hide his awakening erection and dug his nails into his leg in hopes that the pain would will it away. His conclusion after this process was that he needed to grow out his nails and that Mrs. Bradley was a sadistic bitch when she excused herself for a bathroom break.

There was thunk beside him that made Matt jump and then Mello let out a low groan as he stretched. The redhead glanced over and caught a glimpse of pale skin as Mello's shirt hiked up over the hem of his skintight jeans. Matt's dick twitched.

"Mello, I swear to god," Matt hissed out and Mello looked over at him with a seemingly clueless expression. He didn't buy it for a second.

"What now, princess?" Mello drawled and Matt narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean, what now? You've been fucking with me since the beginning of this fucking detention session! You can't act like you don't know what you're doing. We had a deal."

Mello's eyes flashed and he turned in his seat. "I haven't done anything to you babe, so pick your panties out of the twist their in and stop yelling at me for no fucking reason. Besides, the deal only included fucking with you during class, which I haven't done."

"Then what's with the clicking?" Matt waved a hand toward Mello's mouth and the blonde's eyebrows scrunched up.

"What clicking?" He asked and Matt threw his hands in the air.

"How do you not know? You've been clicking your tongue since I've met you. It's annoying."

Mello looked thoroughly confused now but Mrs. Bradley's return kept the blonde from saying anything further. The last twenty minutes passed in complete silence, Mello keeping his tongue silent. When Matt glanced over at him the blonde was staring at the dry erase board at the front of the room with a thoughtful expression. Following his gaze, all Matt saw was a reminder of a test on Friday.

Once they were released Mello grabbed up his bags and left the room, Matt following after him in a slower manner. Turning toward the gym, Matt caught a faint click and sighed.

* * *

"**Mello, please tell me you've** never brought Matt in here."

The blonde looked up from his book with a raised eyebrow and clicked his tongue as he looked around his room. "Why?"

Instead of replying Halle simply pinched the bridge of her nose and waved a manicured hand toward a poster of a half-naked woman on his wall. Mello followed the motion with his eyes and he laughed for a good five minutes. Halle tapped her foot.

"That's a joke." He told her before turning back to his book and Halle crossed her arms.

"Take it down." She told him and the Picture of Dorian Gray fell from Mello's fingers with a dull flop.

"No."

"Take it down, Mello."

"No, fuck off." Mello snapped and Halle raised an eyebrow at him before walking over to poster and reaching for one of the tacks holding it in place on the wall.

Mello was up in a flash, yanking her away and pushing her towards the bed where the fell with a yelp. The blonde boy's eyes were hard and cold as he glared at her and this time Halle had the sense to be intimidated.

"The poster stays where it is and if you try to touch it again I will kick your ass out of my house so fast your hair will get caught in the fucking door." He told her and she nodded.

"Okay, fine, the stupid poster stays on the wall." The blonde girl looked flustered for once and it took several minutes before she spoke again. "Your room looks like the den of a whorehouse."

Mello had the decency to look shocked. "What do you mean?" He asked, looking around.

"You have a California king bed, there a scantily clad woman on your wall, and I'm almost completely sure that if you tied someone to your headboard the only way they'd get loose is by chewing off their own arms."

"I like my headboard." He replied and Halle pinched the bridge of her nose in a gesture that was oddly reminiscent of Roger. She could tell she had her work cut out for her in turning Mello into a suitable guy for Matt. The blonde boy was just so, so crass and rude and vulgar and he had a fucking Playboy bunny on his wall. How was that even a joke?! Matt was smart and funny and occasionally a major dork but he also liked dancing and music and—

"Mello," Halle said as she caught a glowing burst of inspiration. "Do you play an instrument?"

* * *

**So Halle's getting snoopy, the plot thickens, Mello's background thickens (Did any of you notice the fucking clicking?! He's been doing it since chapter one!), and I completely forgot to add in Sachiko's little meddling stunt, but holy hell you guys I never wanted to stop writing this chapter! Halle and Mello are just so much fun together!**

**In the next chapter you guys get Sachicko being the best adoptive mother in the WORLD and Takada quite possibly tries to murder Matt for missing practice. **

**Like always: love, kittens, and glitter.**

**-Cheshire**


	5. Invite Him To Dinner Matt

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (*throws self into a volcano*) or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: It took me forever to actually start typing this chapter. My dad's labrador got a hold of my baby dove, Freddie, and nearly ripped his wing off. I cried for like three hours straight, even after I realized she was still alive.**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Invite Him To Dinner Matt**

* * *

**Matt woke up the next** morning to the knowledge that it was Friday and contemplated his urge to burst into song. Well, not exactly but he could dance at least because, fuck yeah, it's Friday. He heard the familiar knock on his door and let out a short shout to let Light know he was up. Then he just basked in hazy sleepiness until the sheets around him grew cold.

With a loud sigh he clambered out of bed and stuck on his usual jeans along with a black and white striped long-sleeve. (Thank god Sachiko had done laundry.) When he finally got down to the table Light and Sayu were already finishing up breakfast and Sachiko handed over a bowl of homemade oatmeal. Matt added honey and cinnamon as Soichiro walked into the kitchen. Sachiko smiled at her husband and straightened his tie.

"Matt made a new friend." She told the sheriff and said redhead paused with his spoon halfway to his mouth as Soichiro glanced over at him. Shit.

"Do I get a name?" The older Yagami asked as he sat at the table and Matt nodded. Then he stuck the spponful of oatmeal in his mouth as a stalling method.

"Kheel." He answered once he'd swallowed and then relented when the man only raised an eyebrow at him. "Mello."

The other eyebrow rose now but the sherrif only nodded and turned to his breakfast. Matt sighed internally and shot a glance at Sachiko who was smiling behind her mug of tea. There was no more talk of Mello throughout the rest of the morning meal and Matt basked in a crises averted.

After they had all eaten Matt, Sayu and Light piled into Chevelle and headed out to school. Sayu was dropped off first and she waved goodbye before meeting up with Brittany on the school steps.

"So. Mello." Light said and Matt sighed. The brunette was silent the rest of the ride.

It was when Matt was entering his AP Lit class that a text from Soichiro came through.

_Invite him to dinner Matt._

And Matt knew he was screwed.

Taking his seat in front of Mello, the redhead fished his book from his bag as well as his notebook and flipped to a clean page. Mello hummed something random and tapped a rhythm against the back of his seat as Mrs Bradley called the class to order.

"My father invited you to dinner." Matt said and the tapping stopped. He looked back just in time to catch Mello's wide eyed expression before a familiar smirk took over the blonde's features.

"Me and the sheriff? Not sure if that's a good idea Mattyboy." Mello raised his hands over his head in a stretch. "Plus I'm a one older man kind of guy and Roger has me pegged."

Oh god, this was going to end horribly. Like crash and burn levels of horrible that would leave Mello shot in an alley for opening his mouth and Matt single for the rest of his life. He could see it now.

"No Mells, with the whole family." Matt corrected dryly. "Soichiro has no interest in prepubescent boys."

"Oh you wish. I could tear you apart, Red."

"I'd like to see you try." The redhead shot back and knew it was a mistake when Mello's smirk grew by a couple hundreds.

"Thanks for the invitation." Mello said huskily and they both caught the double entendre.

"Your first project objective is due tomorrow at the beginning of class." Mrs. Bradly cut into their conversation. "You and your respective partner must write a joint essay comparing and contrasting your thoughts on the first two chapters of Dorian Gray. Since the requirement for essays is five paragraphs each you will be combining your essays to make six body paragraphs, an introduction and a conclusion with both of your views."

Fuck, fuck, fuck Matt was screwed.

"We'll meet at my place before dinner to work on the project." Mello told him as the bell rang and the redhead gaped. Well, okay then. Not so screwed. He gathered his things and headed to Economics.  
...

The next two periods passed quickly and without incident. (AKA boring as hell.) When the bell for lunch rang Matt gathered his things and made a bee-line for the library in order to get some of his English essay done as well as check out a book explaining the United States free enterprise system for his Economics worksheet.

Sitting down at one of the closed off tables behind the large faux-wood bookshelves, he dug out a notebook and started the process of outlining his essay. Throughout the process he took breaks to drink water and answer questions for his economics worksheet, dividing his mind between two subject to keep it from wandering. Thirty minutes into lunch the library motioned that she was going to the restroom and Matt nodded. The library doors shut behind her then opened again as a familiar blonde stalked into the study hall.

"Busy?" Mello asked as he pulled out a seat and perched on it with a sort of predatory grace. Matt glanced up from his work and then flicked his eyes down to his paper. Mello caught the hint and lounged back into his seat with a sigh.

There was brief moment of silence, then a click and and Matt sighed.

"What are you doing here?"

"Watching you."

"You don't have anything better to do."

"I have plenty of things better to do Matt, but that would involve you bent over the nearest hard surface."

Matt flushed and gripped his pencil a little harder as he took a deep, silent breath. "I have work to do."

Mello smirked and plucked an extra pencil from the table before turning the graphite tip to the linoleum coated table top as he began drawing.

"What are doing?" Matt asked as Mello continued to scribble on the table. Pale blue eyes met his own as the blonde smiled.

"Drawing."

"Drawing?" Matt echoed as he turned back to his paper and Mello hummed a short, affirmative sound. "What about art?"

"It is a malady." Mello answered and Matt smiled as well.

"Love?" The redhead asked and raised a brow.

"An illusion."

"Religion?" Matt continued, eyeing Mello's rosary and the blonde scoffed.

"The fashionable substitute for belief." The blonde admitted with a charming smile.

"You're a skeptic then?"

Mello gave his a mock offended look. "Never! Skepticism is the beginning of faith."

"Then what are you?"

"To define something is to limit it, Matt."

"Everything has limits, Mello." Matt told the blonde but the other boy merely winked and got up as the bell rang.

"See you in Trig." Mello told him and began to leave, then turned back to toss something at the redhead.

Matt dropped his notebook to catch it and opened his hands to reveal an he looked up Mello was gone. Gathering up the last of his work and shoving it into his bag, he glanced down at Mello's drawing to find an apple sketched into the wood that was exactly like the one he held in his hand, down to the very last detail and imperfection. Below it were the words 'An apple for your thoughts' written in neat flowing script. Slipping his bag onto his shoulder, Matt smiled and took a bite of his apple as the late bell rang.

...

The rest of the day passed without event and Matt soon found himself in the gym leading the girls through dance steps. As with last time they made a few alterations to better fit the rhythm of the dance with the girls as individuals. Practice was good, tiring but good, and Matt felt himself gain that special buzz of energy that only music and movement could give him. By the end of their three hour session Matt was more energized than exhausted and practically bouncing on his feet. He bid the girls good-bye and packed up his laptop and speakers before making his way out to the lot.

Chevelle started with minimal fuzz, her familiar rumble filling the empty streets around the school as Matt turned her toward Mello's place. The blonde opened the door with his patented smirk and motioned the boy inside. The redhead was instantly hit by a wave of herbs and seasonings, the smell permeating the air the entire walk to the kitchen.

"I figured you'd be hungry after dancing. Wouldn't want you too weak for...further strenuous activity." Mello said as he set a plate of grilled sandwiches in front of Matt and the redhead smiled his thanks.

"We're doing homework, Mello." Matt told him and Mello only raised a brow.

"Are we?"

"Yes."

"And if we weren't to have any homework, hypothetically?"

"Then I'd say we'd need to find something to keep ourselves occupied. Hypothetically, of course." Matt said, matching Mello's sultry tone.

"Of course." Mello said and then leaned forward to capture the redhead's lips in a quick kiss. "I finished the essay during your dance practice by the way."

Matt's breath caught as Mello's lips brushed his own with each word and he resisted the urge to lick his lips. Or the blonde's lips for that matter. As it was the blonde caught his bottom lip between his teeth and sucked lightly before releasing it.

"My outlines?" Matt said, well breathed, trying to rein in his thoughts as his pulse skyrocketed. Dear god, Mello was going to be the death of him.

"I looked them over in the library and wrote your portion based off of them." Mello mumbled into the skin of the redhead's neck as he peppered it with kisses.

The bloody death of him.

They shared another brief kiss, this one initiated by Matt, before they turned back to their sandwiches. Matt continually found himself watching Mello throughout the quick meal but wasn't the only one who couldn't seem to keep their eyes to themselves as impossibly blue eyes tracked the redhead's movements.

They washed the plates and griddle, talking as they worked about everything and nothing at all. And if Mello's touches lingered a little more than necessary for passing dishes then Matt couldn't complain. The cleaning took longer than normal as well as Mello would stop to corner Matt against one of the many counters for a quick make out session. Matt didn't mind, and made sure to return the favor every time.

The redhead had to admit that it was nice. It was normal and...not what he had been expecting from Mello at all. He had assumed anything with Mello -not that they were a _thing_ per se- would be quick, hot, and messy. What he received instead was a heady exchange of kisses and burning touches that left Matt's blood rushing.

They spent the rest of the time before dinner watching movies in the entertainment room. Mello, much to Matt's horror, had never watched District 9 or Super 8, even though he owned both movies. So they watched them, exchanging kisses in the dark during the calmer bits.

...

"What the fuck is up with the cat food?"

"It's like catnip to them. Shut up and watch the movie, Mello."

"What the hell...?"

"Just watch the movie."

"Why are they eating the fucking aliens, Matt?"

"For the love of god. Just. Watch. The. Movie."

"His name is Christopher? Really?"

"Yes."

"Okay then."

"Shut up."

"Oh god, that's fucking disgusting."

"Mello."

"What? It is! That alien fucking exploded."

"He got shot with a ray gun. That happens."

"Well... That was fucking weird as shit."

"I hate you."

"Mmhmm."

* * *

**By the time Sachiko called** Matt home for dinner they had made it through both movies with a long break in between for a game of tonsil hockey. Matt enjoyed himself thoroughly but Mello refused to skip the dinner date that the redhead's father had set up.

"Why are you so eager to meet the sheriff?" Matt asked during the drive to the redhead's house and Mello clicked his tongue absentmindedly.

"I'm not. I just..." Mello stopped and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh. "I'd like to get out of the house."

Which was true. The house was huge, grand even, with so many things that could keep Mello happy. He had everything he could ever want but no one to share it with. Because what was a big house worth when it was always empty? He'd long ago gotten used to his parents never being around, to their long business trips to bustling cities all over the world. He knew they were happier away than they were at home and, honestly, he wouldn't even know what to say or do if they were home for more than a few hours at a time.

No, he didn't miss his parents. He missed something that he'd never had, the company of other people. And if he could gain that sense of what a family really was through having dinner with Matt's parents then he'd do that.

Matt didn't say anything for the rest of the ride, merely turned the radio to a rock station and watched the house fly by, growing more middle class with each mile. He gave Mello directions once they'd passed the school lot and they reached the redhead's house on time.

A short, japanese woman met them in the hall when Matt led the way inside and Mello stopped short. He looked over at Matt, who was clearly American with a hint of Irish is his bright eyes and fiery hair were anything to go by, then over at the woman with dark hair and eyes.

"Not what you were expecting." The woman said with a laugh and when Mello shook his head she took hold of his arm and pulled him father into the house.

"Matt was the son of a very friend of mine." She told him as they walked further down the hall and through the family room, into the dining area. The brunestte boy from school, Light, was sitting at the table with Sayu and a dark haired man that could only be the sherriff, who nodded at Mello upon his arrival in the room.

Matt took the seat across from Light with a shit eating grin and motioned Mello into the seat beside him as Sachiko took her place at the end of the table opposite her husband.

Bowls of food were passed around and portioned out before everyone dug in. After the first couple bites, Mello glanced up at Matt to find a noodle hanging out the redhead's mouth and down his chin. Mello laughed and Matt sucked the noodle up quickly.

"You eat like a pig." Mello told him and Light laughed from his seat.

"I tell him that all the time." The brunette said and Matt pointed his finger at him as he glared.

"You do not."

"How do you like Humboldt, Mello?" Sachiko asked, drawing his atention from the other boys as they continued to bicker over the time.

"It's boring." He answered trutfully. "And small."

"Not mcuh can add up to LA." Soichiro added. "But I'm sure you could find something to do."

"Oh, I have." Mello told the sheriff and looked at Matt, letting his gaze linger. He was sure that the older man caught his meaning if the raised eyebrow was anything to go by but Soichiro didn't react otherwise. Matt, however, choked on the food in his mouth and stared at Mello through wide, watery eyes once he'd cleared his windpipe.

"Smaller bites, Matt." Sachiko said once the redhead had settled down and Mello couldn't resist.

"I'm sure he could handle much bigger things down his throat than a few noodles." The blonde said and Matt turned bright red, in anger or embarrassment Mello couldn't tell but it was entertaining.

Sachiko sighed and her husband cleared his throat. The Yagami siblings looked scandalized but Matt looked...hurt.

Shit.

Mello looked down at his food and pushed his noodles around with his fork.

Surprisinglu, or unsurprisingly, Mello wasn't sure, Soichiro broke the residual silence.

"How did you and my son become friends?" It wasn't harsh, just a simple question. Curiosity and not increduality. Sorichiro trusted Matt to make good decisions it seemed. Mello couldn't decide if that trust was in vain or not.

"A school project." Mello and Matt answered at the same time, the redhead sounding slightly panicked and Mello realized that Matt wanted his family in the dark about his bullies.

Mello could do that. Besides, it wasn't his place to snark about Matt to his parents. Still, when the redhead shot him a small appreciative smile Mello felt his stomach clench.

Damn. Matt was going to be the death of him.

* * *

**I think this may be the shortest chapter yet. Sorry about that. It's hot off the press though. (I literally just finished typing and editing it like five minutes before posting it.) **

**I want to thank you all for the follows, favorites, and reviews. They make my day. **

**But, I have a request. Please review! I cannot say this enough. Chapter one got nine reviews before I even posted the second chapter but the last chapter got three times less than that.. I'm not going to guilt reviews out of you because that's low, but I have to know what you guys think of the chapters. **

**Other than that, love and kitten to you all,**

**Cheshire**


	6. Because That Makes It Better

**Title: New Perspective**

**Rating: M**

**Summary: Humboldt, California is probably the most uneventful town to ever exist. Matt would know, he's lived there his whole life, fielding homophobes and surviving school one day at a time. Then Mello arrives and everything gets turned on its head.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Death Note, Matt, Mello, a Chevrolet Chevelle (*rocks in a corner*) or any other products and/or copyrighted material mentioned in this story.**

**A/N: Sorry I'm late. It really was just me being lazy so you guys have every right to kill me.**

_Mello's text messages_

**_Matt's text messages_**

* * *

**Chapter Six: Because That Makes It Better**

* * *

Saturday dawned bright and early, and with it a day long dance practice with the girls. Matt's stuff was already packed and by the door, the Saturday morning hush keeping the house wrapped in a seep fogged blanket. The redhead's hands were curled around a hot cup of tea and the rising sun was sending golden beams of light through the window above the sink.

It was nice.

Taking sips from his tea until all that remained were the luke-warm dregs at the bottom, Matt rinsed out his mug and placed it in the sink before grabbing his bag and slipping out the door. Chevelle stuttered to life, protesting against the cold weather but he waited for the RPM to drop before turning on the heater. Heat blasted through the car after a moment of jiggling with the knobs and he tuned the radio to a Radiohead song before turning up the volume. He hums along.

By the time he's reached the school parking lot 15 Step has transitioned into Bodysnatchers and he pulls into one of the many empty spots in front of the Preforming Arts Center before turning the key off. The last door on the right is propped open for the dancers and

Matt makes his way into the Auditorium and down the isles to the stage where half of the girls are already waiting.

The rest of the girls arrive, Takada among the last three, and practice begins after Naomi leads in stretches. She lets Matt take the lead after that and he runs them through the steps a couple of times before retreating to upper stage to watch them. The girls shift, change, and drop in sync, in perfect time with the beat and Matt finds himself grinning. They look amazing, even in mismatched active wear and Matt feels a burst of happiness rise in his chest as he watches them. They stumble, of course, but each time they do the individual jumps back in the flow effortlessly and completes the eighth count before transitioning into the next. When the bass dropped Rem, Misa, and Quinn merged into their step routine with well practiced ease, moving around Naomi, Takada, Amanda, and Julie as the took center stage.

The next few hours passed with minor tweaks and a couple of individual practice once Matt as satisfied that they could do the dance as a whole. He wanted them to be able to do the routine without turning to any of the other girls for help, something that Misa and Julie did often. At noon he called for lunch and the girls left to get food, leaving hit with enough time to make a run for the boy's restroom down the hall. The door shut behind him with a reassuring thump and he sighed. So far he'd done a good job of avoiding Takada and her wrath during Friday's practice (aka: hiding behind Naomi and Amanda as much as possible and leaving immediately afterwards) but his luck was about to run out. He just knew it.

Sure enough, the door burst open behind him as Takada stormed in.

"Jeevas, I need to talk to you!"

Matt bit back a groan -this was his punishment for bailing on practice after all- as he reached out to the soap dispenser and gathered a handful of sudsy foam.

"Uhhmm Takada," He tried. "This is the men's restroom. I don't think you're supposed to be in here."

"I don't give a flying fuck where I'm supposed to be. You need to make sure you're where you're supposed to be, not shrugging off dance practice to play tonsil hockey with Blondie. I am not loosing this competition over your virginal lack of sex and inevitable depravity of sex okay. So get your dick in check before I castrate it."

"It was one time!" He defended and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"And it better be the only time, Jeevas, or I'm going to claw your eyes out. With my nails." She told him -well threatened really- and spun on her heel out of the bathroom. Once the door had slammed shut again Matt let out a heavy sigh, ran his hands under the tap to rid of soap and braced himself against the sink. He felt a wave of tiredness flush through him, overriding the happy buzz he'd had for the morning, and bent to splash a handful of water into his face once he'd tugged his goggles down round his neck.

Reaching blindly for a paper towel, he wiped excess water from his eyes and looked up into the mirror. Only to jump about a foot in the air when he caught sight of Tyler leaning against one of the stalls in the background.

"What are you doing here?" He asked sharply and praised himself for the absence of a waver in his voice. His hands were shaking though so he pressed them firmly into the counter.

"Saturday practice." Tyler said flippantly as he stalked closer and Matt felt his fight or flight instinct kick into hyper-drive. He chose flight and made a mad dash for the door only to have Tyler catch his wrist and slam him into the wall with a forearm pressed to the back of his neck.

"Tell your boyfriend that the next time I see him, he's gonna pay for that stunt he pulled in the parking lot."

"You mean when he kicked your ass into the ground?" Matt asked then mentally kicked himself in the nuts when Tyler's forearm pressed down harder. Okay, ow, ow, suffocating! At Matt's pained noise in response, the jock pulled him back and slammed into the wall again with a hard shove and then turned to wash his hands in the sink. As the redhead was retreating he caught his eye in the mirror and winked.

"Go back to your dancers Twinkle Toes."

Matt did as he was told, only making a detour to his locker to grab his high-collared fur vest and shrug it on. By the time he returned to the gym, the girls had come back bearing food and Matt skirted around Naomi as she reached for an apple. Grabbing a soda, bag of chips, and a couple slices of pizza, which he piled on a paper plate, he retreated to the darkened seats in front of the stage and set up in the first row.

As he was biting into his second piece of three meat trio his phone buzzed in his pocket and he fished it out to see that he had a text from Mello. Smiling, he slid off the lock and opened the message.

_Morning sexy ;)_

Matt let out a little snort and set his pizza on the plate balanced on his knee.

**_Good morning Mello_**

_Aw youre no fun. how about you come over to my house and I raise your spirits?_

Matt could practically see the other boys lascivious smirk through the phone. He took another bit of pizza.

**_Can't. practice_**

_Then cum after_

Matt rolled his eyes but still sent out a quick **_okay _**before shoving his phone into his pocket. Practice lasted for another hour or two, most of which Matt spent checking to see if his neck had started to bruise (which it had) and wincing when he moved the wrong way. He hated jocks. Hated them more than the Amazing Spiderman remake and that was_ saying something_. The girls were running through the routine like professionals now and Naomi was taking the lead with making adjustments, every one in a while calling down a question on certain parts of the song. Using his phone, he managed the music from his seat and kept where the girls couldn't see the forming evidence of his encounter with Tyler in the bathroom.

He and Mello exchanged a couple more texts, most of which were Mello's ever present and increasing ridiculous flirtations that caused Matt to grin at times and outright laugh at others. What surprised Matt most about Mello now that he'd had the time to think things over, was the fact that he'd become so comfortable around the other boy. Mello felt natural, felt safe. And quite frankly that scared him because Matt wasn't someone that blindly trusted other people. He couldn't afford to.

But Mello had gotten in so quickly, had been there and told Matt to fight. Admittedly, Mello was cocky, insufferable, impossible, and downright sleazy sometimes but he was also strong and kind and smart. Matt made no mistake of thinking he could turn Mello into someone that he wasn't, and truth be told, Matt liked Mello as he was. He liked his ever sure comebacks, and his easy smirks, and his seductive, care free attitude towards life. It was thrilling and magnetic, with just a hint of danger. It made Matt anxious in a pleasant way. Because Mello was what Matt had imagined the world to be outside of his little hick town of Humboldt county.

But the most shocking and unexpected thing about the blonde by far was the fact that he hadn't pushed, hadn't reached for more. The kisses they'd shared had been chaste and familiar, not innocent, because Mello wasn't one to play at innocence, but calm and sedate. Matt felt safe, felt like the other boy would wait and it made his stomach twist in a happy-warm-good way. Because Mello felt right.

Once practice had ended Matt ran up to the sound booth and grabbed his laptop, before waving down to the girls on the stage. Misa ran after him to give him a hug and a happy good-bye and almost winced. Instead, he ducked down and kissed the top of her head while returning the hug.

...

The drive to Mello's was quick, houses and the grey scenery of small town Northern California passing by in all all to familiar, barely-noted way. The redhead had sent a quick text telling Mello that he was on his way as he'd pulled out of the school lot and Mello was waiting for him when he arrived.

"Even for gorgeous in person." The blonde greeted with his usual smirk and Matt's lips quirked.

"I know you have better material than that."

"Well my bed-sheets are some pretty good material if you wan to try those out." Mello quipped and Matt laughed.

"Better." He congratulated as he made his way toward the kitchen. Once there, he helped himself to whatever was in the pantry. Namely, a bag of nacho cheese Doritos, a bag of Laffy Taffy, and an apple. Sitting down with his stash, he propped his elbows up on the table as Mello pulled a plate of sandwiches out of the fridge.

"Wouldn't want you dying of hunger during sex." Mello told him with a wink and Matt rolled his eyes.

"I'm not having sex with you Mello. You can keep trying though."

"It's rude to lie."

"It's rude to repeatedly proposition someone." Matt said around a bite of sandwich and Mello's smirk grew behind the rim of his Cola can.

"Well, you make it easy." Mello shot back... and that hurt.

Matt picked at his sandwich, tearing it apart as he watched the realization of what he'd said dawn in Mello's eyes.

"Shit, sorry." The blonde muttered and Matt gave an internal sigh.

"You do that a lot. Say things that are supposed to hurt." Matt told him and Mello sat his empty coke can on the table.

"Yeah, I know."

"Why? Does it make you feel better or do you honestly not know that saying shit like that can fuck someone up?" Matt snapped, getting angry now. Sometimes Mello remarks were funny, sometime they were sultry, but other times they made Matt ache.

"Matt, I didn't mean it like that." Mello ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm just not used to all this." He gestured in an expansive sort of motion. "I'm used to saying a few quick words, fucking someone, and leaving."

"Sorry for making it hard for you." Matt bit out sarcastically and Mello's eyes blew wide. "Maybe I should just roll over and spread my legs for you."

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that this is new to me, so I'm gonna fuck up and say things that I don't mean. I'm just... I'm trying." Mello let out a sigh and Matt crossed his arms. After a long moment of pointed silence Matt sighed as well and his arms fell, hands cradled in his lap.

"How was dance practice?" Mello asked and Matt perked up.

"Good. The girls have the dance down so now it's just a lot of repetition."

"Sounds boring." The blonde mumbled as Matt unwrapped a taffy.

"No, just tiring."

"I could think of lot of other tiring activities I would rather be doing than dancing." Mello told him with a wink as he stood to put the empty plate that had held the sandwiches in the sink and Matt laughed, the charged feeling in air evaporating.

"Even if It means being surrounded by scantily clad girls?" The redhead asked with a quirked brow as Mello circled the table toward him.

"And would you be scantily clad as well?" Mello's breath brushed his ear and Matt shivered.

"Maybe." Matt's heart jumped in his chest as Mello's fingers fluttered over his sides outside his vest. "What did you have in mind."

Mello hummed and pressed a little more. Matt bit his lip and the blonde's fingers traveled up to his chest. "Shorts and the absence of this hideous vest."

Matt gave him an offended look as Mello plucked at the faux fur of his vest. "I like this vest."

"I'd like it off of you." The blonde quipped back and began the process of unbuttoning it. The goggle clad boy felt his heart stutter and jump.

"Mello." He murmered and the blonde hummed as his fingers traveled over Matt's now vestless chest. Matt shuddered and pulled away as pain spiked though his. Mello startled and pulled away at his noise of pain, then narrowed his eyes.

"What the hell was that?" He asked and Matt waved the question off.

"Nothing. I just fell during practice. Overstepped a turn and hit the floor pretty hard. It's not the first time." The lie was smooth, effortless, and so easy.

Mello looked unconvinced. "Uh huh. Now what really happened?"

"That is what happened."

"Matt, I'm not your parents. You can't lie to me about this shit. I've seen you dance and I know you wouldn't overstep a turn. What the hell even is that?" He asked and waved a hand when Matt opened his mouth to answer. "No, just tell me why you're cringing and hissing in pain."

"I didn't hiss." The redhead protested and Mello gave him an unimpressed look. (Why was everyone in his life so damn good at looking unimpressed?) "Fine. You want the truth. The stupid football team, Tyler specifically, aren't happy about you kicking their ass in the parking lot your first day and decided it was a good idea to introduce me to the wall of the men's bathroom. It's just a stupid bit of intimidation, and honestly they've done worse."

Because that makes it better." Mello snorted. "Like maybe leaving bruises all over your neck." He said pointedly and Matt winced. He'd forgot about those.

"It'll heal."

"Before or after they give you new ones?"

"I don't think that's any of your business, Mello."

"And I think we've had this conversation about you letting them push you around. You're better than all this shit."

"Oh so I'll just fight back without getting beat to a bloody pulp." Matt said, sarcasm dripping from his tone. "Great idea."

Mello quirked a smirk. "No, You're going to defend yourself. And I'm going to teach you."

"I think you're forgetting the fact that I'm sore from being shoved into a wall." Matt pointed out and Mello's aqua blue eyes darkened, growing cold and flinty.

"No, I haven't. They'll regret that." He promised. "And as soon as you'll no longer sore we're going to practice self-defence."

The redhead gave a humorless smile. "Oh joy."

"Shut up. I'm putting off sex for this."

"I'm not having sex with you Mello."

"You say that now." The blonde shot back and Matt grinned.

"You're impossible." He told the other boy and followed Mello to the entertainment room for a gaming marathon. They made it through three games and two movies ("Do we have to watch the Avengers?", "Yes Mello, we do; now shut up and let me look at Loki.") before Matt was called home.

It was nice, familiar, and calm.

It was safe.

* * *

**And chapter six is done! So sorry for the week long wait! And hopefully the MxM exchanges aren't so sudden in this chapter. I was just really impatient for kisses in the last chapter. I look forward to reading what you guys think.**

**As always, love, and cat's, and shit.**

**Cheshire **


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